On the evening of January 19, 2025, James Bartholomew Cauthen, 54, a Battalion Chief with Coweta County Fire Rescue, was killed in Chambers County, Alabama after stopping to assist a couple whose vehicle had struck a deer. Accounts differ on how the encounter escalated. Most reports say Cauthen and the male driver walked to a nearby residence to call for help and that the homeowner, William Randall Franklin, allegedly emerged and opened fire. A later investigator’s account says Cauthen had already called 911 and that he and the driver never set foot on Franklin’s property, while Franklin had been shooting erratically from his house before approaching the group as they waited for deputies.

A shootout followed; the armed driver returned fire and wounded Franklin. Cauthen was fatally shot and pronounced dead at the scene; the driver was injured but expected to recover. Franklin was also injured and taken to a medical center. A warrant for murder was issued for Franklin, and court filings note he was arrested in Georgia on a related fugitive charge and detained pending transfer. The motive for the shooting remains unclear.

If anyone witnessed the collision or the confrontation on County Road 267 that night, does any detail about the timeline or Franklin’s actions shed light on what happened?